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I Tried a Full Face of Products for the First Time and Here’s What Happened

I thought it would be a neat idea to do an entire face of first impression products, and quickly realized how MANY products that ended up being when I went to try and photograph them all! Turns out I wear a decent amount of makeup every day, and I’m totally #sorrynotsorry about that. Everything from the primer through to the brows was a first-time test for me. There’s cheap as chips drugstore, and spend-your-paycheque luxury, just to make it a little more fun.

*denotes PR sample, Affiliate Links

The Complexion

I’d been dying to try the Rose Balm since I saw it launch; One because I love anything rose, and two because Pixi skincare agrees with me really well. It did not disappoint! I find it hydrating and a really beautiful base under makeup, like the new NARS Naturally Radiant Foundation. I find this a medium coverage foundation. It sat well on my primed and moisturized skin, but can see it clinging to dry patches if I wasn’t prepped properly. One thing to note, I don’t find it very buildable, so full coverage girls might want to pass on it.

To top up my coverage and conceal my tired-mama under eyes, I tried the infamous Cle de Peau Concealer. The formula is smooth and creamy with no dragging like many stick concealers. Do I think it’s worth its insane price tag? Not really. Do I enjoy using it? Yep! You do need to set it though, so I reached for the Essence All About Matt! Waterproof Powder. When I saw this in store I knew I needed to try it; It was under $6 and claimed to be waterproof! To my surprise, this has to be one of the nicest powders I’ve worn in a very long time. I’ve been reaching for it non stop over my luxury powders and it doesn’t cake under eyes or around the nose. It gives a gorgeous blurred effect that makes my look poreless – total win here!

The Cheeks

To add dimension to my now blank canvas face I reached for the new Tarte Park Avenue Princess Contour Palette. These powders are silky smooth but kick up a TON of powder, so beware. I found they blended seamlessly, but would have liked at least one slightly cooler shade. The palette has matte highlighting powders, but I opted for shimmer with the Shu Uemura Prism Luminizer. This is a loose powder that would look stunning on tan or deep skin tones; On me, it was a bit too gold for my liking. I did make it wearable though, by blending it into my Milani Dolce Pink Blush, which has a bit of sheen to it as well, and its a gorgeous warm rose.

The Eyes

I’d been eyeing the Eye Foils for a while now, since they have great reviews on Sephora. Naturally, I went for Pink Gold, and it left a beautiful wash of colour on the lids that didn’t crease or bunch. I love a winged liner with pale pink shadows and had heard that NYX Epic Ink was a dupe for my Kat Von D Trooper and it totally is! Super black, and a brush tip for that perfect sharp point. I’ll have a comparison post for the two coming soon, so watch for that.

Of course, any eye look isn’t complete until I’ve piled on the mascara, so I opted to try the L’Oreal Voluminous Superstar XFibre in Waterproof. It’s rare to see primer/mascara duos come in waterproof. Since I find most primers wilt my fine lashes, the waterproof seemed like a good option. While the mascara looks good in the picture, I feel like it took a lot of work to get there and even with remover it was hard to remove and left me several lashes less (insert blue faced crying emoji here!)

The Brows

It takes a lot to meet my needs when it comes to brow products. I have fine, sparse brows and my hair is a cool dark brown. Almost everything is too warm, too light or too dark. The Shu Uemura Hard Formula pencils are a cult favourite, and now I see why. It’s a bizarre formula – it doesn’t swatch on your hand, but when you use on your brows it transfers to the skin and hairs of your brows. You’ll think its a dried up pencil until you really actually try it! It was love at first brow for me and I am SO glad I actually gave it a go. After filling in, I set with the L’Oreal Brow Stylist Boost & Set, which has the teeniest tiniest little wand and can get every little hair. I have to be a bit careful with this, because the brush is so minuscule, it can pull out too much product from the tube if im not careful.

The Lips

I never thought I’d see the day when I said I found a matte liquid lipstick that suits my dry lips, but friends, its here. The Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick now comes in a Sheer formula, and it does everything I want, minus the horrific feeling of flaking lips! My only gripe is there are only a few shades, but I am hoping the brand launches more of their original formula in the sheer version as well!

So, while it was a sh!t ton of products to photograph and write about in one post, I really loved the challenge of trying an entire face of new (to me) products. I challenge you all to do so! I had some clear winners in this lot, and a few flops as well, but the overall look turned out nicely!

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